


the heart of a king

by plunderheavenblind



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, Alternate Universe - Orpheus and Eurydice (Hellenistic Religion & Lore) Fusion, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Don’t copy to another site, Hopeful Ending, Implied Sexual Content, Inspired by Hades and Persephone (Hellenistic Religion & Lore), Inspired by Music, M/M, Obsession, prose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 09:33:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18385754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plunderheavenblind/pseuds/plunderheavenblind
Summary: A God and his Light;A soft warmth seeping into an empty heart;And desperation that led them to ruin.(A song to bring them back together)





	the heart of a king

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MiyaDe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiyaDe/gifts).



> Inspired by the song "Epic III" from the Hadestown musical
> 
> Honestly, inspired by that whole musical

He met him at the coming of spring - the sun streaming through the clustering leaves, rays of light and shadows dancing across soft skin and gold-lit eyes. Wind brushing against tousled hair, he was enraptured by the grace of this person, this hazy remnant of a far-off dream. Lashes fluttered and his eyes closed, hiding the light that shone from them and yet, the smile that graced his lips were enough to make warmth flow through him.

Truly, Akashi had been lost the moment he saw him there, a shining sun standing amongst sunflowers. 

He stepped forwards without a thought, and the figure startled. Eyes snapping open, fear seemed to freeze the figure where he was, and Akashi was able to dash forwards and grab a thin (breakable) wrist.

“Wait,” and it was hard to breathe for some reason, each intake of air short and quick, and he realised he was flustered. But he needed to know more about the figure, didn’t want him to disappear and leave (him) without a trace. “Would you please give me your name?”

Though his eyes were still wary and distrustful, Akashi must have appeared pathetic in his desperation, for the figure only gave a light frown before answering.

“Kise. I’m Kise Ryouta.”

His voice was warm. A lilting melody, a songbird’s tune. Akashi’s breath hitched, and his tight grasp on Kise’s wrist gentled.

“My name is Akashi Seijuurou.” What else was there to say? Did he need to say anything more?

By the slight widening of his eyes, Akashi didn’t think Kise needed any other hint to his identity. The hushed whisper of his other name coming from the beauty’s lips made him shudder.

“Hades. You’re that Hades, right?”

He nodded. “And you’re Light.”

He should have realised. The way the flowers turned their faces towards him and leaned forward just to get closer to him, the way each one that touched his skin would brighten up. Even the sun seemed to be attracted to him alone, its shine brilliant yet dim compared to Kise himself. 

A hesitant smile crossed Kise’s face, and his heart thumped against his chest. 

“I…” Kise started, then hesitated for a second. “I need to go.”

_No, not yet._ “Just stay a bit longer. I wish to know you more.”

The underworld was dark and cold, and he was loathe to return after basking in the light of this new sun he had discovered. His wrist was warm beneath his touch, and he brought it up so he could put his lips against a soft palm, a silent supplication.

Kise stared at him, and even Akashi was bewildered by the tenderness that had wrapped itself around his heart, the old god knowing for the first time what weakness felt like.

He raised his eyes up to meet the golden gaze head on, and when he saw the responding smile, he welcomed the weakness (that would become love).

“I can stay for a bit.”

 

Months passed. The weather grew warm, and with it, his heart, for it had flourished beneath the tender care of his sun. Never had he known such light before, his underworld dark and cold and lonely without anyone besides him. 

Kise was walking just ahead of him, a light tune leaving his lips as he twirled a flower in his hand. His smile, bright with contentment and a quiet joy, filled Akashi’s heart with warmth (and the fear of losing it all). Bringing the flower up so he could smell it, a light dusting of pollen powdered his lips.

“Kise,” and just as he turned to look at him, Akashi pulled his head down so that their lips could meet, and he tasted sweet sweet nectar as Kise fell into his embrace.

“Akashicchi.” A gasp, laughing out with eyes sparkling bright, Akashi could only lean in and kiss him again.

“Kise.”

“Akashicchi.”

“Kise.”

“Akashicchi.”

A giggle broke their streak, and Akashi was only a man in front of this divine being, this piece of sunshine that had fallen from the skies. He fell to his knees, grabbing Kise’s two hands even as he tried to pull him up again.

“Please,” pleading, begging, anything for him, “have pity on me, Kise. Allow me to have you as any mortal man would have his lover, for I am no better than them when I am with you.”

Like ripping his heart out, the confession burned his tongue and his pride even as he laid it bare for Kise to see. He waited for the inevitable, for how could a helpless god like him be of worth to someone like Kise? But the touch of warmth on his cheek, the sight of Kise kneeling with him, was an act of mercy that he would not let slip away.

That day, beneath the sun and the skies, the god laid his lover amongst the flowers and held him in his embrace. Within and around Kise, he grabbed onto his light and didn’t let him go. 

When the seasons changed and the flowers began to wilt, he whisked the sun down underground, bringing his light into his underworld. To see his realm lit by sunshine smiles and laughter ringing through the empty halls, Akashi thought there would be nothing better than to have his Kise beside him for the rest of eternity.

 

(And that was when it all fell apart.)

 

A blaze of anger in unforgiving eyes, the sharp chill of being burned by searing flames, Akashi knew he had done something wrong.

But he couldn’t let his light go, not now, not when he didn’t know if he would ever return to him. He couldn’t return back to his world of darkness, to wallow in the cold emptiness of the underworld, untouchable and unloved.

He would keep Kise beside him, no matter what.

“ _ Ryouta _ .”

“I need to return, let me go!” He wouldn’t meet his gaze, eyes turned away from him, and that was unacceptable.

“Stay with me,” he implored (commanded), and he grabbed his wrist and pulled him close. His left eye burned, greed tainting the red pool until it turned gold. Kise screamed and raged, thrashing about but Akashi refused to let his sun go out of reach.

Kise was his, after all.

 

Of course, Kise did leave in the end. Because the surface could not live without the sun, not like the underworld which had learnt long ago how to survive in death and night, and did not need him like the world did. And Akashi was forced back into the coldness of the dark, only able to watch as Kise left him behind.

But Kise would never be allowed to escape, for a band of gold wrapped around a slender finger chained him to Akashi. The Fates themselves trailed alongside Kise, friends and wardens at the same time. If that made Kise resent him, then that was fine. He could live without his love, without his smile, so long as he still had the warmth of his presence beside him.

He didn’t realise (chose not to see) that Kise’s warmth only grew colder and colder with each return, that his smile left and never came back even as he was forced back to his side every time. Akashi only thought about the emptiness in his heart, and tried to fill it with the missing love of another. 

Every spring, Kise left his side, and the chill returned to the underworld. 

 

It changed one winter, with the coming of a hunger-stricken youth into his realm.

This, Akashi would never have noticed had Kise not seemed even more subdued than normal, although these days he never wasn’t quiet. Sitting apart on the couch, Kise made sure to keep as large a distance as he could. Though he wanted nothing more than to force Kise closer to him (until there was nothing between them, no secrets no lies  _ nothing _ ), he refrained from making the blonde any more disdainful of him.

“Ryouta, what’s wrong?”  He demanded an answer to his question, but Kise was nothing if not stubborn, keeping his face turned away from him.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie.”  _ Not to me _ , he thought, and Kise was as perceptive as he was stubborn, and so he answered, steel in his voice.

“Someone I knew died. He’s probably stuck here now.”

And that was interesting. Though mortals had always been a fascination for Kise, he rarely remembered any single one. For one to catch his attention like this, he must have been special, and a twinge of rage sparked in his chest. The possessive jealousy that had fuelled him for the many seasons since their love had withered rose again, and he levelled a glare at the apathetic blonde. With barely a glance at Akashi, Kise waved his hand, the dismissive gesture only causing the rage to flare up.

“You’re always so angry when I mention someone else,” he said with a faux-joy, bitterness seeping into the words, “trust me when I say that no one would want to proposition me like that. This one is married, his husband’s a musician.”

Though his anger didn’t dissipate, he no longer felt the need to destroy someone. So he settled back into calm indifference as best as he could, staring at the side of Kise’s head and willing him to look back. “So you are interested in this one...why?”

Silence. And then a hesitant answer, barely understandable. “They reminded me of us.”

That made him freeze up. Surely, Kise hadn’t meant it like that.

“They were so in love,” he continued on, seemingly unaware of how his words shook Akashi, “that singer really adored his lover, even if they seemed to fight a lot. Pity he failed to listen to him at the end-”

Akashi stood up and walked out of the room, enraged because he was sure this was what Kise wanted, for him to leave him alone, and how _dare_ he discuss those two as if they were like them.

It didn’t matter. The singer had lost his lover, and Akashi would never let that happen to him.

There was nothing similar with their situations. At all. And so he stalked back to his throne room, forcing any thoughts on the issue away, cold seeping back into his body as he walked further and further away from Kise.  


 

Impossible. It was impossible for this to happen, unless…

He clenched his hand into a fist, forcing his face to remain impassive even as anger boiled over. Damn Mayuzumi. He was supposed to remain a silent guard, not allowing any hard-headed singer to barge into his underworld. He would punish him later - for now, there was this mortal to deal with. 

“And what makes you think you are so much more special that you can take someone out of the Underworld?” He tilted his head to the side, staring down at the impudent little singer as if he were nothing more than a bug beneath his feet. And he was, wasn’t he? There was nothing that made this one stand out amongst every other desperate mortal, except for the fact that he had somehow forced Mayuzumi into letting him in. That didn’t mean anything though, because Akashi would throw him out of here soon enough.

The singer adjusted the guitar on his back, posture perfect and straight as he dared to look Akashi in the eye. “I’m Nijimura Shuuzou, and I’ve come to get my dumb husband back.”

He blinked. And then a soft chuckle left his lips, half-amused at the insolence of this one. “I apologise, but I don’t allow anyone to cheat Death. Once he has passed the gates into the underworld, then he cannot leave.”

“‘Cannot’, or you won’t let him?” He stood his ground, chin lifted up in defiance.

This one was troublesome. “I don’t see any reason to let him leave. You are free to go if you desire, since you did not come through the gates.” Taunting words, mocking the man to leave his resolve behind so he could scamper away. But the man didn’t take the bait. He just stared straight at Akashi, knowing eyes levelled at him.

It annoyed him, itched at his skin. He raised his hand to remove him out of his sight.

“Let him speak.”

His hand stilled. Turning to the side, where Kise entered the throne room (which he hasn’t done since-), he gave the blonde a chilling glare, ignoring the Fates that trailed behind him.

“Do not presume that you can order me around, Ryouta.”

But the cold could never touch Kise. Straightening his back, a fire entered Kise’s eyes as he sneered. “If you cared anything about me, perhaps you’d listen when I say something.”

His heart jumped out at the sound of something other than bitterness and indifference in Kise’s voice. It had been so long since any other emotion had made Kise so impassioned, and if it was just this one little request then perhaps Akashi could relent.

He looked at the singer, stared for a second, then directed his gaze back to Kise. “This is your singer, correct? The one who lost his lover to Death.”

The casual mention made the singer clench his jaw, and Akashi lifted his lips in a taunting smirk. Kise was unmoved though, nodding with ease. 

“Yes. I only want you to hear his request properly. Consider a deal with him.”

He let a huff leave his lips. Though it indeed wouldn’t be much to listen to the mortal, he was loathe to actually consider this fairly. But if Kise was so inclined, then he could indulge him.

“I suppose, I could consider letting your lover go.” This made the musician perk up, but Akashi was focused on the guitar on his back. He put his head in his hand, leaning to the side in idle amusement. “If you can move me with a song. Then maybe, I’ll feel enough pity to consider it.”

He had meant the words in jest. Truly, it had been to mock the musician for bringing a guitar and only a guitar into the depths of the underworld with him. But when the musician only nodded, a deep determination set in his eyes, he wondered if he had perhaps misjudged the man.

 

Sitting atop on a throne of gold, Akashi stared down at the stage further below him. From here, he could see Nijimura standing alone on the stage surrounded by jeering spectres of the dead, but he would not be able to see Akashi. Slender fingers brushed against his shoulders. Akashi glanced over to where Kise stood at his side (where he always belonged), displeasure shown only through the slight downturn of his lips. He didn’t look at Akashi; dismissing his presence as soon as he gave him that single acknowledgement, refusing to even sit in the carved wooden throne.

That was fine. This would end soon enough. Akashi’s mercy was not infinite after all, and he doubted a single song from such a sad man could change his mind. He wanted to ruin this human.

The musician took a deep breathe, the guitar held with tender hands, and closed his eyes. Akashi scoffed and thought that perhaps the man was considering backing out.

He opened them, and Akashi felt dread drip down his back. Arranging the guitar in his arms, he opened his mouth and began to sing. 

Akashi's heart stopped.

It was nothing special. No, it was barely enough to be called interesting. But the song, those words…

He whipped his head towards Kise, and gaped at the eyes that looked back at him, mournful and pleading.

_ It was about them? _

It was a story. A story woven about a god who had everything beneath the sun, power to scorch the skies and raze the earth. A greedy old god who could do nothing but fall in love with just one look at the beauty in the garden. 

Helpless, he became nothing more than a mortal. Weak-kneed and pride-less before him, the god bent on his bended knees and begged for mercy on his pitiful heart, for he loved the beauty with everything he had. And the beauty returned his love, and they shared pleasure beneath the sun and the skies, their love exposed for everyone to see. And then…

Desperation led to ruin. He knew this bit.

Knowing didn’t stop the truth from hitting him again though, and he listened to the bitter words coming from someone who understood him, echoed by the crowd of spectres surrounding him. But unlike him, Nijimura also knew that chains would never hold a person down (that no matter what he did, he could never tie Kise to him).

And with all the anguish of a man full of hope, the singer whispered:

_ “He grows so afraid that he'll lose what he owns _

_ But what he doesn't know is that what he's defending _

_ Is already gone” _

The words struck him, sharp daggers digging straight into his heart. His past, his love, everything that led him to where he is now…

He remembered, and just as the final notes were sung, he allowed himself to join in. He ignored the startled look from Kise, too aware of the shame that burrowed deep within his heart as he reminisced the past.

When was the last time he had seen his Kise smile like he had on that first spring day?

The singer ended his song, and Akashi could see desperation in his eyes as he clutched the neck of his guitar tight, face pallid and drained. He hesitated.

He was the king of the underworld, a god, the highest power in this realm. He was forbidden from showing weakness, for a king should never bow his head or give way to a mere mortal. And yet…

To deny a man his only wish outright, ignore that heart-wrenching supplication for mercy, was to turn his back on love itself.

He closed his eyes - and then they opened, revealing mirrored flames, a fiery red that reflected the fires of his realm. 

“Kise,” he said, and pretended to not notice how Kise’s eyes watered, standing up and walking to the doors of the chamber, “please escort Nijimura-san to his rooms. I must consult the Fates.”

He left, building up his heart that had softened from memories and love, knowing that whatever decision he made after this would shake his world - for better or for worse. Three pairs of glowing eyes surrounded him, and he felt the weight of the crown on his head once again.

 

“Akashicchi.”

The long-forgotten name called out by that familiar voice startled him. He jerked his head to the side just as Kise wrapped his arms around his neck from behind. He could feel Kise’s breaths, the steady thrum of his heart against his back, and allowed his heart to be soothed.

“Kise.” And there was that sigh of relief, as if he had been waiting to be proven wrong about his suspicions, and there came guilt running into his heart. He had done his Kise wrong, treating him so - as if he were nothing but a treasure for him to possess and hide away. Because no. He was so much more than that, he was the light of his life, the only warmth in this dark world that he built his existence on.

“You think they’ll make it, Akashicchi?”

At the reminder of the sentence he had passed onto the singer and his lover, Akashi reached up and clasped Kise’s hand. He waited for Kise to squeeze his hand before answering, musing on the young couple.

“I don’t know. I will keep my word if he succeeds, however.”

“You let them go.”

The whisper was laced with shock and awe, the show of mercy hitting the blonde hard with how unusual it was. And Akashi had to admit that, he would never have done this before. But to be so blatantly forced to remember his own feelings of love, enough to bring himself back to who he used to be, Akashi could not deny them the chance to try.

And he hoped that, like them, he would be given another chance too.

“I let them try,”  _ for you _ didn’t need to be spoken aloud for Kise to understand, and when slender fingers pushed his chin up, he allowed himself to go along with what Kise wanted.

Meeting golden eyes brimming with tears, he realised how long it had been since Kise had actually looked at him properly, and he was struck once again by how splendid Kise was. 

“Do you want to try again too?” The solemn words didn’t match the light that should be emanating from him, but Akashi was willing to take it slow. He did not deserve everything yet, and so he would work to gain back the trust that he had lost.

“It’s almost spring, Kise.” a gentle reminder of what Kise wanted, for both of them, and then a compromise. “When fall returns, will you still want the same?”

Lips curved up, and there, a flash of that old happiness that had been lost to him. “Wait for me?”

“I will.”

That was the only answer, and Akashi closed his eyes just as soft lips touched his own.

 

_ (When the singer embarked on his quest, head held high as he walked along the pathway, Akashi kept his eyes on the silent spectre that trailed behind him. Beside him, he could hear Kise’s breathing, and knew he prayed for the two’s success. _

_ Akashi could not help but hope with him, despite the inevitable downfall that would come to them. _

_ He watched the two try and fail, the creeping doubt that always takes over finally overwhelming Nijimaru just before the end, and he watched their shared horror as Haizaki faded. He could feel his presence return, trapped within the underworld while Nijimaru could only scream and scream. _

_ But that was not his story. So he grabbed Kise’s hand and tugged him away, leaving the forlorn man to mourn and damn his own love. If Kise was silent after they had returned, that was something that Akashi could let slide. Together, they slept curled around each other, all the more grateful for a body to hold when they knew there was another who would never feel the same warmth again.) _

 

When it was time for Kise to return to the surface, Akashi grabbed his hand. He turned back to look at Akashi, curious and wary, and the king swore his heart raced at the sight of sunlight reflecting off his eyes.

He was as beautiful as the day they had met.

“Don’t,” he started, but hesitated. There was too much shame, too much mistrust between them for him to ask Kise to stay again. So he took a breath, and met Kise’s gaze head-on as he implored his sun, “don’t forget me.”

Softness touched his hardened looks, lips lifted in a tender smile even as he took more steps away from him (and yet, this time he didn’t feel so cold at the sight of Kise’s back towards him - for he knew that soon, he would return again).

“I could never forget you, Akashicchi.”

A breeze carried the whisper to him, and just as Akashi closed his eyes to take in the familiar song of Kise’s happiness, he felt the underworld go dim without the presence of its sun.

But this time it would not stay this way, and so Akashi didn’t hesitate to walk back into the dark, prepared to wait until the surface world no longer needed his light.

**Author's Note:**

> Huff
> 
> I is very tired. I will maybe edit tomorrow but honestly, I'm just glad I finished this in time for Akaki (teikou) day and Nijihai day. Congrats me.
> 
> Lots of love to Miya miiii, this is for you uwu (and juju bean too, and coco bean, and everyone else in the discord who ships this cause i dont even pay attention to this ship).
> 
> (What am I doing. I don't even ship this ship)
> 
> rejoice, my good people - this will be one of the few akaki fics I make
> 
> I do it for ~love~
> 
> also GO LISTEN TO HADESTOWN IT IS FRIKKIN AMAZINGGGGG


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